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Monthly Archives: May 2012

I do know that I had a very strong sense of what was fair. That attitude got me into trouble sometimes

Rosa Parks became an example of the struggle to attain civil and political rights and ultimately human dignity.Born and raised in the US state of Alabama she lived her childhood and part of her adulthood in a legal segregated society where black people couldn’t share the same opportunities of their white fellow citizens in terms of education public facilities and accommodations, and what was reserved for them was normally poor in terms of quality.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks made history refusing to leave her seat to make room for a white passenger as the law obliged black people to seat in the back of buses or to stand.

She was arrested for that.

Lost her job as a seamstress.

Nonetheless her simple act of civil disobedience had a huge impact on the civil right movement by sparking what was later called the Montgomery Bus Boycott in which took part also Rev. Martin Luther King.

On June 4, 1956, the boycott leaded the Federal District Court to rule Alabama’s racial segregation laws for buses unconstitutional.

Rosa Park’s episode represents one giant step in the movement that brought black people to attain complete rights of citizenship in the United States Of America.

Her name is now synonymous of perseverance, determination, independence and free will.

What is said about her:

Bill Clinton: “Let us never forget that in that simple act and a lifetime of grace and dignity, she showed us every single day what it means to be free. She made us see and agree that everyone should be free.”

Barak Obama (sitting on the famous bus): “I just sat in there for a moment and pondered the courage and tenacity that is part of our very recent history but is also part of that long line of folks who

sometimes are nameless, often times didn’t make the history books, but who constantly insisted on their dignity, their share of the American dream”.

Condoleeza Rice: “She inspired a whole generation of people to fight for freedom”.